Black Pastor: Racist Michigan City Council Candidate Isn’t A Racist

On Thursday night, Jean Cramer, a candidate for the city council in Marysville, Michigan, uttered what may be some of the most staggeringly racist sentiments in recent memory that haven’t come from Donald Trump or Steve King. Cramer argued that her city ought to do more to ensure that it remains as white as possible.

As staggering as that was in and of itself, Cramer actually said this when asked how to make this city right on the line between Michigan and Canada more welcoming to people who aren’t born in this country. No, this isn’t snark. The Associated Press got a clip.

When the moderator at a city council candidates’ forum asked how to make Marysville more attractive to foreign-born residents, Cramer said–with a straight face–that the best way to do that was to “keep Marysville a white community as much as possible,” with “no foreign-born people.” She googled down in an interview with The (Port Huron) Times Herald, saying that she also believed that people of different races shouldn’t get married.

This sounded like something you’d expect in, say, Alabama or Mississippi in the early 1960s, or South Africa in the 1970s, not Michigan in 2019. Fortunately, the condemnation from city officials and citizens has been fast, hard, and unequivocal. Mayor Dan Damman, who is retiring at the end of the year, said that Cramer’s sentiments were “flatly rejected” by himself and other city officials, and later called for her to get out of the race.

Now who would step up to defend this racist pigweed? Well, of all people, black conservative pastor and rabid Trump supporter Jesse Lee Peterson seemed willing to do so. In a Saturday afternoon tweetstorm, Peterson let it be known he was outraged at the outrage over Cramer’s remarks.

Nothing wrong or "racist" with what the woman said. She wants a majority white and no foreigners in her community. If you've ever been to Detroit or Muslim run Dearborn, you'd feel the same. If this is still America, she has a right to free speech and to "choice." Right?

Excuse me, Jesse Lee? That’s the exact mentality that led to the travesty of white flight. And yes, Cramer has a right to free speech. But just like she has a right to blow a dog whistle into a megaphone, we have a right to point at her and laugh, and to say that we don’t want her representing us.

https://twitter.com/JLPtalk/status/1165347150420561920

And how, pray tell, is there anything wrong with a city or a country that is majority-minority? And what is wrong with interracial dating?

The woman said she has no issues w/ blacks. And It doesn't matter what else she said, her speech is protected under the Constitution! Blacks and Hispanics oppose gentrification (to keep whites out), is that racist?

Were you paying attention, Jesse? When you say that you want to keep your town “as white as possible,” you’re announcing with capital letters that you have a problem with people of color.

Peterson has frequently been seen hanging around white nationalists. Indeed, earlier this year, he openly declared that America’s only hope was a white takeover. One has to wonder if he’s been hanging around these very fine people for too long.

Darrell is a graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello, or donate on Patreon.